Beats Pill: Classic speaker returns – with better sound and longer-lasting battery

The Beats Pill has returned – with a new look and better sound.

It is now the only portable speaker made by Beats, or by its parent company Apple.

It revives a brand that first launched in 2012, and went on to become something of a classic design, in part because of its appearance in music videos. As its name suggests, both the new and old Pill are long with rounded edges, like a pill.

It is almost 10 years since any kind of Beats Pill was released. The first arrived in 2012, but was followed by the Beats Pill+ three years later, which added extra size and new sound as well as being the first to be released since Apple bought the company.

Two years ago, however, Beats discontinued all versions of the Pill. As such, there was nothing between the headphones offered by Beats and Apple’s home speaker offerings, the HomePod.

Now, after a marketing campaign that has included celebrities carrying around the new speaker, Beats and Apple have finally updated that Pill. The 2024 version of the Beats Pill costs $149.99 or the same in pounds, comes in red, black and gold, and is available now.

Beats says that the new speaker should sound better than its predecessors. Its audio hardware has been improved so thatathe speaker can move 90 per cent more air and its drivers have been moved around, to tilt upwards for a better listening experience when it is laid on a table, for instance.

But Beats also pointed to new technology features. That includes the addition of Find My so that its location can be tracked on Android and iOS, and two of the Pills can be linked together for stereo listening.

Unlike its predecessors, the new Pill charges with USB-C. That follows Apple updating the standard for almost all of its products, including the newest iPhones.